


The Voyage

by Elymais



Category: Elder Scrolls
Genre: Adventure, East Empire Company, this is a crossover but I am not telling you with what just yet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28287120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elymais/pseuds/Elymais
Summary: Tertullia is a logistics coordinator at an East Empire Company warehouse. One day, an old friend decides to visit, bringing a strange request with him.





	The Voyage

The coins dropped one by one out of Hanno's purse and landed heavily on the table, filling the room with dull clinks as they began to pile up.

Tertullia looked up from her logbook with an unamused scowl. "I know what you're trying to do, and it's not going to change my mind." She waved towards the warehouse beyond her office door. "You think you can bribe me with pocket change when I have all this wealth at my door? You're bloody mad."

Hanno dropped the purse on the desk with a thud. Some of the coins fell to the floor. "I'd hoped to sway you with reason, but I suppose that currency doesn't exchange very well in here, does it?" he mused.

"You're not cute," said Tertullia, looking back down at her logbook. "And I've still got a lot of work to do, so if you'll excuse me-"

Hanno cut her off. "What the Company stands to gain-"

"Is nothing," continued Tertullia, silencing him, "compared to what the Company stands to lose."

Hanno shifted. "These kinds of risks-"

"Hanno," she said, rubbing her temple and shaking her head. "The kind of funding you are asking for is exorbitant given the risk that you may return empty handed or simply not at all. I understand the interests of the parties you represent, but I simply cannot allocate you the funds for this expedition unless I have either a hard and fast guarantee of success or some equivalent collateral, which you have failed to deliver."

"Quote me a number and I'll put up the collateral," said Hanno. "But I can't do that unless you quote me a number, and you've been stonewalling me on that."

"I won't give you a number because I know your creditors back in Sentinel can't pay." Tertullia picked up a small handful of coins from the table and dropped them back on the pile. "That's why they sent you with a bribe and not collateral."

Hanno huffed. "And suppose I could find somebody who could insure your investment. Would you quote me a number then?"

"Eighty thousand Septims," Tertullia relented. "That excludes daily hire and demurrage. I won't negotiate. Get out of my office."

"Thank you," said Hanno, bowing his head slightly and ducking out the door.

The relative silence crept back into the office, punctuated by the sound of the dockworkers in the warehouse. Tertullia sighed and rubbed her temple again, trying in vain to stave off the headache which was coming on. She closed her eyes for a long moment and took a few deep breaths. When she opened them again, her gaze had fallen on the little purse which still lay on her desk, overflowing with gold.

"Idiot," she Sighed.


End file.
